Capital braves the second coldest day in a decade

As many as 73 flights were delayed due to fog at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. Photo: S. Subramanium

Delhiites expecting a warmer and sunnier Sunday were in for a massive disappointment as the minimum temperature plummeted to the season’s lowest at 2.6 degrees Celsius.

In fact, Sunday’s minimum is the second lowest recorded temperature in the Capital since 2004.

According to the Meteorological Department, it is also only 0.2 degrees above last year’s low of 2.4 degrees, five notches below normal for this time of the year and a little over a degree above the lowest temperature ever recorded in the Capital — 1.1 degrees on December 26, 1945.

Meanwhile, the maximum temperature in Delhi was 19.2 degrees, one notch below normal. Humidity was recorded at 97 per cent and visibility was less than 50 metres, which disrupted road, rail and air traffic headed to or from the National Capital Region.

Even NCR residents struggled against the bitter cold and dense fog, with minimum temperatures in various towns settling between two and five degrees.

The Capital had recorded the second lowest temperature of the season on Saturday, with the mercury dipping to 4.8 degrees, three notches below normal, though the afternoon was comparatively warmer.

Slight improvement expected

However, better news is in store for Delhi-NCR, with the weatherman forecasting a slight improvement in minimum temperature and a static maximum temperature.

“The maximum temperature is likely to settle at 19.2 degree Celsius and the minimum likely to touch three degrees,” said a Meteorological Department official, adding that weather across the NCR is expected to improve gradually over the coming week.